CANYON, Texas – The West Texas A&M Buffaloes return to Lone Star Conference action this weekend as they host the Eastern New Mexico Greyhounds in a four-game series beginning on Friday afternoon with first pitch set for 2:00 p.m. at Wilder Park.
A LOOK AT THE GREYHOUNDS
Eastern New Mexico enters the weekend with an overall record of 6-9 following a series victory over the #15 Hilltoppers of St. Edward's last weekend in Portales, the Hounds picked up wins in Game 1 (8-4) and Game 2 (6-1), Sunday's series finale lasted just half an inning before being cancelled due to high winds in the area.
Jonatan Clough leads the way offensively for the Greyhounds as the freshman outfielder from the Dominican Republic is hitting .306 on the season with two doubles, two triples and four homeruns to drive in a team-high 12 RBI for a slugging percentage of .673 to go along with eight walks and 11 strikeouts for an on-base clip of .433. Potential Friday starter Noah De La Riva is 1-2 on the season for the Hounds, registering a 4.32 ERA with 16 runs allowed (12 earned) on 31 hits with five walks and 16 strikeouts during his 25.0 innings of work for an opposing batting average of .301.
ENMU HEAD COACH RILEY PRICE
Riley Price is now in his fourth season at the helm of the Eastern New Mexico baseball program, holding an overall record of 34-89 during his time in Portales. Price took over the Hounds following one season as the top assistant at Minot State. Before his time in North Dakota, Price spent time as an assistant at Angelo State, Baker University and Washburn. The Berryton, Kansas native played his collegiate ball at Washburn, Southern Arkansas and Allen Community College.
SERIES HISTORY
The Buffaloes lead the all-time series against the Greyhounds, 75-53 with WT winning the last 17 meetings between the two teams in a series that dates back to the 1994 season. The Hounds are 23-41 all-time in Canyon including 4-17 at Wilder Park since the facility opened in 2011 with WT winning the last 12 in Canyon.
WT HEAD COACH MATT VANDERBURG
Matt Vanderburg has built West Texas A&M Baseball into a regional and national contender as the Norman, Oklahoma native enters his 15th season at the helm of the Buffs. He holds an overall record of 457-252 (.645) during his time in Canyon while registering a career record of 556-323 (.632) in his 18 seasons in collegiate baseball.
THE COACHING STAFF
Cory Hall is now in his 13th year at West Texas A&M as the Buffs' Pitching Coach, serving the last seven as the program's Associate Head Coach. Hall has had four different pitchers drafted in the Major League Baseball Draft during his time in Canyon with multiple other professional players learning under one of the top pitching minds in collegiate baseball. Assistant Coach
Shawn Neale was named WT's Recruiting Coordinator in 2022 as the Toronto native returns for his seventh season in Canyon.
2023 LSC PRESEASON POLL
Defending South Central Regional Champion Angelo State picked up 23 of the possible 32 first place votes to sit atop of the poll with 407 points followed by WT (eight first place, 388), Texas A&M-Kingsville (one first place, 315), Lubbock Christian (298), St. Edward's (296), UT Tyler (291), Oklahoma Christian (206), St. Mary's (203), Texas A&M International (160), UAFS (131), Eastern New Mexico (88), Cameron (82) and UT Permian Basin (47).
Adam Becker from West Texas A&M claimed Preseason Player of the Year accolades while Wesley Gafford from St. Edward's was named the league's Preseason Pitcher of the Year.
Becker made an immediate impact on the diamond for the Buffs as the Lone Star Conference Player of the Year finished his junior campaign hitting .402 with 22 doubles, two triples and 22 homeruns to drive in an incredible 92 RBI for a slugging percentage of .803 to go along with 27 walks for an on-base clip of .462. Becker was named First Team All-South Central Region by the D2CCA, NCBWA and ABCA/Rawlings.
NCBWA PRESEASON ALL-SOUTH CENTRAL REGION
Adam Becker,
Ryan Johnson,
Eddy Savoie and
Nick Marshall were named to the squad while
Will Fuenning was selected for the Honorable Mention Team. The Buffs were selected third in the preseason regional poll. The poll and all-region team was voted on by a committee of eight voters with four representing each conference (Lone Star and RMAC).
THIS IS LSC BASEBALL
The LSC Championship will feature a two-week tournament comprised of the top eight teams with the opening round at on-campus sites May 5-7. The winners of each opening round series will advance to a double-elimination tournament played May 11-13. The winner of the postseason tournament will be recognized as the LSC Tournament Champion and receive the conference's automatic qualifier to the NCAA postseason.
LSC DIGITAL NETWORK
The LSC Digital Network is in its fourth season showcasing the academic and athletic events of the league and its 18 member institutions. Volleyball, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's basketball, baseball and softball broadcasts will be available via conference-wide pay-per-view passes.
The LSC Digital Network will offer season passes for football, volleyball, soccer, basketball, baseball and softball, giving fans access to all regular-season contests for that sport. In addition, viewers will continue to have the option to purchase a $10 day pass that provides access to all broadcasts aired that day and access to all archived content for 24 hours.
